Month: June 2020

Some people got free will, some don’t.

Better to think:

DEGREES of free will.

For example, if someone is addicted to heroin … how much free will do they got? None. They gotta get some sort of outside intervention in order to heal them and fix them. They cannot self-will to get off heroin.

How can you become something you’re not?

For example, if you’re born a chicken … how could you turn into a frog? Or if you’re a cat, how can you become a dog?

For us humans … why become something antithetical to yourself? Why try to fit yourself in the Procrustean Bed of society?

Isn’t it better to mould society, than mould yourself to society?

My sister-in-law was talking to my niece Amelia, and she said:

Great job Amelia! One day you can become an artist!

And (4 year old) Amelia retorts:

“But I’m already an artist”.

Wisdom.

iPad + PROCREATE

Why do we no longer believe in the greatness of man, or the potential great abilities of man, mankind, or a single individual? Some theories:

How do you know if someone is fake or the real deal? You must meet them in the flesh. Embodied (body to body) reality. Until you’re in the same room as someone, sharing the same air as someone (breathing the same air as them).

And even if you have met someone in the flesh … how do you know what they really do in their off hours? What do they do in their Google Incognito tabs? What’s their browser or cookie history?

Moral of the story:

Put no faith or admiration in a man until you’ve met him or her in the flesh.

And even so … be very very skeptical.

ERIC

An example day today:

What is money really useful for? Paying rent, and buying meat.

Beyond this — money doesn’t have that much positive utility. Just buy your MacBook laptop (refurbished, maxed out). See all the options on Apple site here.

Belief in ‘genetics‘ is Racism 2.0.

Money is movement. Money is what makes the world go round.

We hate those who we do not understand, those who we cannot control, or those who live or act contrary to what we believe in.

Interact less online; more in the flesh.

Living on the internet or digitally is bad. The best life is embodied (flesh) reality. Spend more time in public, chatting with people from all walks of life. This is the best life.

My personal philosophy on working out, fitness, aesthetics, etc:

The bias:

We tend to hate those who we don’t understand, those who we feel inferior to, or those who violate our own personal vanity or view of the world.

I have yet read any good modern things on the philosophy of ugliness. Some of my unfiltered thoughts.

Or in other words, why I am anti-shame, and anti-shaming.

Or in other words–

Embodied reality (flesh reality) is the only real reality.

Or in other words:

Put no faith in theories; put more faith in empirical reality.

Would you trust the workout or fitness advice from someone who is massively over-fat, and weak? No. Appearances matter. Why? Proof is in the pudding.

We often have this silly notion of “immutable facts”. But what does this mean? What is the significance of this thought? My thoughts:

In praise of a park lifestyle:

You are who you are. You were who you always were.

Why try to change yourself? Isn’t it better to simply exploit yourself, your skills, your talents to the maximum?

The less you gotta maintain, the better.

We the new elite. More poor, more simple, more austere. But more elite.

Big question for you as an entrepreneur:

Do you desire to become mass market, or do you want to pursue the luxury market?

If you don’t market yourself… who will?

My new friend: Tom the Painter from Providence, Rhode Island.

Why am I becoming more muscular and getting more ‘gains‘ in the park vs the gym? Some thoughts:

The fun thing about making videos:

Augmenting your modes of self-expression/self out-pression.

Nobody knows what is going on. But this is my general aesthetic thought or approach on what is happening in the world:

Don’t shirk from calamity. No. Calamity awakens you. Strengthens you. Elevates you.

An example of one our home meals:

Devote your life to making great art!

Many people tend to think that the biggest problem in America is race. I think the deeper root … class. Rich vs poor. My thoughts:

Like our friend Kanye West has said:

We are the new slaves.

What does this mean? Let me explain:

We are all obsessed about getting the best new iPhone or whatever phone. But what if the best phone were no phone?

What would creating an Adblock for the mind (mental hygiene) mean, or look like?

My new ideal:

SUPER STOIC.

To go *beyond* stoicism.

True luxury as a via negativa thing:

1. True luxury is to be blessed to NOT have BS cares or stresses or anxieties in your life
2. True wealth is via negativa: money to NOT worry about things, not to just buy a bunch of stuff.
3. True luxury goods — things which SIMPLIFY and TAKE AWAY and SUBTRACT complications from your life. True wealth and luxury as a great simplifier of your life. For example me being able to NOT own a phone and NOT own a car; true luxury.
4. True luxury: Not having to check your email every single day.

The world is chaos. Nobody from any government or place knows what is going on. Why? Because — there ain’t no conspiracy. Randomness and chance and chaos in the modern world amplified with technology, hyper-media, social media, internet monetization, advertising, algorithms and globalization leads to even more noise and getting suckered by randomness.

We talk much about physical hygiene now (with COVID-19). How come we never talk about mental hygiene?

Certainly there are MANY benefits to a subscription model. In some ways, a subscription model is more honest. For example with Spotify, you aren’t gonna get bombarded with ads. With Netflix you ain’t gonna drown in ads either.

But — to subscribe to something and to be enslaved to a subscription; isn’t this to chain yourself?

Right now we are living through history. This means — document, critique, judge society in America through your photos. Some ideas:

We are all hunting for ‘truth’.

But the question:

Once we have discovered a deeper truth … then what?

Or in other words:

Why pursue truth?

FLY HIGHER
shoot off your sonic booms like Street Fighter
You’re a fighter, you’re a Knight
You shun the fright, and you like the night
You shun the drugs and the kite
you fly high, no leaden spite.

You see the brighter things
You catch the Sonic rings
Your path is golden and fast
You don’t need to be crass or harsh
You jetski through it all, with your balls on the walls

You want to go higher
Howard Hughes level
Titan and Hercules, no spruce goose to keep you loose

Avoid the snares and the geese
Those who squawk and bleat
Keep up the heat
Frying pan
You’re hot as fire
You gotta fly higher.

ERIC

Freedom ain’t free.

Towards a more tolerant society:

When in doubt, go simple.

At my apartment home gym:

To thrive and succeed, fuck the ‘gram. Focus on building your own email newsletter.

When in doubt, choose freedom and frugality over riches and slavery.

If you want the apex camera-photo-video-vlog-still photo tool, LUMIX is the way to go.

A simple photo assignment you can do while in quarantine — just photograph your own hand (think Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam painting).

No problems with alcohol or weed for ethical or moral reasons. Here are just my reasons:

In life, put more faith in your body, your gut, your human physiology, your desire to walk over “work”, “productivity”, and “ethics/morals”.

Question:

Would you rather be 200 pounds of solid muscle (and ripped and buff/swole beyond belief), or drive a Porsche 911 (and be over-fat or skinny-fat?)

In life you got the power to dictate what you desire to become.

I love iPad, but still … at least for our life-times .. you can never do better than a laptop.

Simple idea:

If you wanna help ‘kids in the hood’, best to get them a (used) or (refurbished) MacBook laptop or MacBook Air. Or a new MacBook Air.

Towards a more nuanced view of people:

Was walking in the streets of Providence, and met Ivan — another passionate street photographer (who had been following me for almost 2 years!) Some of our chat:

The only one holding you back is you. Isn’t this the ultimate optimistic thought?

When we talk about racism, I think we mean to talk about “morphologyism”; the notion that certain morphological traits are superior to others.

Towards a philosophy on ‘the hater’.

If you want to become physiologically more powerful, consume more (fatty and delicious) red meat.

Photographers above painters, poets, film directors, etc.

It is just my way.

Similarly, we must be very tolerant towards the thinking of others (unless they are inciting violence).

My suggestion:

When you share your opinion, realize … it is only your opinion. And your opinion *SHOULD NOT* become a ‘universal truth’ (the fallacy of Immanuel Kant)

To write is to think.

A thought:

If we all as individuals took extreme responsibility for ourselves … perhaps this could make the world a “better place”, or certainly give us the power to advance our own personal self-interests.

Simple heuristic:

If you got a strong body (first step), then most likely you have a strong mind.

No, the point of life isn’t to maximize your pleasure (hedonism). ‘Hedon‘– pleasure, sweet [hedus].

Hedonism:

Loving sweet (sugary) things in life. A life of diabetes, over-fatness, and physiological illness.